Jen Gerson: It speaks volumes that Justin Trudeau has made more inroads in Alberta than Thomas Mulcair

Justin Trudeau has made more inroads in Alberta than Thomas Mulcair

CALGARY — It speaks volumes about the NDP leader that a Trudeau now boasts better odds of making gains in the Conservative stronghold of western Canada than Thomas Mulcair.

Two premiers — Brad Wall of Saskatchewan and Alberta’s Alison Redford — took the federal NDP leader to task again on Monday over the Keystone XL pipeline. As the western premiers have become the line’s lead champions, Mr. Mulcair has become their chief antagonist.

Mr. Mulcair went to Washington Wednesday to all but discourage the Americans from approving the contentious pipeline. He suggested the Conservative government was “playing people for fools” on Canada’s environmental record — prompting Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, to note: “The Canadians don’t want the pipeline in their own country.”

Not only were Mr. Mulcair’s actions “decidedly unhelpful to the Canadian interest,” Mr. Wall said on Monday, they were also untrue.

Alberta has a carbon tax, an environmental research fund and supports carbon capture and storage research. Further, Mr. Wall noted, Canada has regulations on the real carbon dioxide emitters — coal-fired electricity plants — that are in many cases far tougher than what’s in place in the U.S.

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Mr. Wall spearheaded a campaign with American governors, while Ms. Redford’s government this week took out an advertisement in The New York Times after that paper encouraged the American president to say no to the Canadian pipe proposal. A lack of pipeline infrastructure is partially responsible for a growing discount on Canadian crude, eating a $6-billion chunk from Alberta’s recently tabled budget, and taking a toll on Saskatchewan’s treasury as well, and the premiers take Mr. Mulcair’s intervention personally.

‘‘The NDP are not friends of Western Canada right now,” the popular Mr. Wall said. “The Western Canadian economy is driving growth in our region, it can help the Canadian economy as well.”

Mr. Wall said Mr. Mulcair’s position is based neither in economics, nor environment. It’s pure political calculus. The NDP leader has spoken in favour of an oilsands pipeline that would take bitumen (and jobs) east, he said: “So then it’s not about the environment.’’

In Ottawa on Monday, Ms. Redford also accused Mr. Mulcair of playing politics; she argued he is saying different things to different audiences.

“His message in Alberta has been slightly different,’’ she said. ‘‘When he last visited Alberta … he was very toned with respect to his comments around the oilsands. That’s not really the role of a national leader, either. If you have beliefs, state your beliefs, whatever they are, and be consistent.”

(Neither she nor Mr. Wall mentioned, or had to, that Liberal-leader-in-waiting Justin Trudeau has been openly supportive of oil sands development.)

Although the U.S. State Department has given Keystone tentative environmental approval, the eco-activists who formed part of President Barack Obama’s winning coalition last fall have given him every incentive refuse the line, and little reason to approve it.

Ms. Redford has said a rejection would indicate the U.S. has lost faith in its stalwart northern trading partner. She has made several visits to Washington in an attempt to convince the U.S. administration to approve the line. She’s even suggested the relationship between the two countries would be severely affected if that country played to its base by rejecting the proposal, which would carry Alberta’s bitumen to the Gulf.

‘‘It is very unfortunate for Mr. Mulcair to have travelled to Washington to undermine the months of good work that has been undertaken by national leaders in this country, by premiers across this country,’’ Ms. Redford said Monday in a speech to business and political leaders.

‘‘I actually believe it is a fundamental betrayal of Canada’s long-term economic interests.’’